Review : Razer DeathAdder Gaming Mouse

MacNN Rating:

Price: $59.99

The Good

Fast and precise. Unique Features. Can change sensitivity on the fly. Ergonomic design and comfortable to use. Excellent build quality.

The Bad

Not for the left-handed (at least Razer is clear about this). Minor bugs in the Mac Driver.

There are many reasons to look for alternatives to Apple's Mighty Mouse, and one of the latest is the Razer DeathAdder Mac Edition.

Razer is known for its mice, especially in the world of Windows gamers, but up to now, there were no Mac drivers for gamers. This does not render Razer mice entirely useless on the Mac, but makes them act like standard mice, stripping them of most special features available on Windows. Razer now has a special Macintosh version of the DeathAdder, featuring a glowing scroll wheel in white and - more importantly - a Mac driver. This allows Mac users to take advantage of the many features of the mouse.

From the bare specifications, the DeathAdder is a right-handed, five button 1800-dot-per-inch (dpi) mouse with the new 3G Infrared sensor. In Razer's line up, this mid-range mouse puts the 800 dpi Mighty Mouse to shame. Razer also tries to tweak their mice to the max, and regularly offers firmware updates to fix errors or to teach an old mouse new tricks.

The most remarkable feature of the DeathAdder lies in your ability to change the sensitivity of the mouse on the fly, without opening the control application. While common in high-performance mice on Windows, this is something new for the Mac. You use a definable button on the mouse to adjust the sensitivity with the scroll wheel in precise adjustments, with a visual on-screen indication. This comes in extremely handy in many games, where you often wish to lower the sensitivity of the mouse, for example in sniping situations. Another option lets you change the dpi settings from its standard 1800 to down to 900 or even to 450. This rather course adjustment has no on screen indication though.

As expected from a mouse in this price range, you can assign any function or command-shortcut command to the five buttons. However, the settings are global across all applications, which diminishes the usefulness of the feature. Games often have their own pre-set action for the third mouse button, so unless you want to change the settings each time before gaming, you should not assign a custom action to this button. While there is the possibility to store five different profiles, they would be much more useful if they could automatically be selected depending on the front most application.

The difference between a DeathAdder and a standard mouse is immediately notable, even for mundane tasks. The DeathAdder is both fast and precise, and while some may call its appearance bulky, it allows the hand to rest in a number of comfortable positions. These features make Razer mice popular among both Mac gamers and graphic designers or photo editors who value precise movement.

The DeathAdder really shines when playing games ?- with extremely short response times over a gold-plated full-speed USB connection. In addition, as mentioned above, the on-the-fly sensitivity adjustment gives you speed or a steady hand whenever you need it. You may never go back to an 800 dpi mouse. Of course, the DeathAdder works just as well on Windows XP or Vista on BootCamp -- after all, probably no serious Mac gamer can resist the temptation to install Windows for those games that are not yet ported.

Razer Gaming Mats

I used the DeathAdder with the Razer Destructor Professional Gaming Mat. This fine mouse pad has a Razer Fractal textured surface with a gunmetal coating, specifically made for better tracking and movement for any mouse. Measuring 350mm(L) x 280mm (W) x 2.3mm(H), the rubber-bottomed pad gives even the most sweeping gestures plenty of room, yet never moves on your desk. The Destructor even ships in its own aluminum protective case. At $39, the Destructor may be an expense only worthwhile for the serious gamer.

Razer Destructor Professional Gaming Mat

A more reasonably priced option, the Razer Goliathus Control Edition, gives you a mouse pad with a textured weave in a choice of three sizes. This $19.99 pad, available in Oversized: 444mm X 355mm X 4.3mm, Standard: 355mm X 254mm X 4mm, or Space-efficient: 270mm x 215mm x 4mm also has a rubber bottom and pixel-precise targeting and tracking. Ilene Hoffman, Reviews Editor, used this pad and found it provided precise movement when editing photos, but she had to adjust the tracking to a slower setting. She found gaming much easier than with an ordinary mouse pad because of the smooth, fast mouse movement.

Razer Goliathus Control Edition Closeup

Minor Issues

There are a few minor issues with the DeathAdder driver, which should be easy to fix with a software update. For example, the default setting does not take into account that on newer Macs, the F-keys no longer map to the Dashboard or Expose. Also, the Razer driver seemed to change the scroll-speed on my MacBook Pro's scroll pad.

Apart from these minor issues, the worst thing that can be said about the DeathAdder is that it does not have an ambidextrous design (for right- and left-handers), nor seven buttons instead of five, like its bigger sibling the Copperhead.

Great Gift

Naturally, I recommend the DeathAdder for any Mac gamer, but it is also is a great work mouse, especially for graphics professionals. The precision of its movements and ergonomic design make it a joy to do fine detail work or play for hours. It is also a worthy holiday gift that should last for years.

Edited by Ilene Hoffman, Reviews Editor

Now AAPL Stock: 153.14 ( + 2.59 )

Cirrus creates Lightning-headphone dev kit

Apple supplier Cirrus Logic has introduced a MFi-compliant new development kit for companies interested in using Cirrus' chips to create Lightning-based headphones, which -- regardless of whether rumors about Apple dropping the analog headphone jack in its iPhone this fall -- can offer advantages to music-loving iOS device users. The kit mentions some of the advantages of an all-digital headset or headphone connector, including higher-bitrate support, a more customizable experience, and support for power and data transfer into headphone hardware. Several companies already make Lightning headphones, and Apple has supported the concept since June 2014. http://bit.ly/29giiZj

Share

Developer453d

Apple Store app offers Procreate Pocket

The Apple Store app for iPhone, which periodically rewards users with free app gifts, is now offering the iPhone "Pocket" version of drawing app Procreate for those who have the free Apple Store app until July 28. Users who have redeemed the offer by navigating to the "Stores" tab of the app and swiping past the "iPhone Upgrade Program" banner to the "Procreate" banner have noted that only the limited Pocket (iPhone) version of the app is available free, even if the Apple Store app is installed and the offer redeemed on an iPad. The Pocket version currently sells for $3 on the iOS App Store. [32.4MB]

Share

453d

Porsche adds CarPlay to 2017 Panamera

Porsche has added a fifth model of vehicle to its CarPlay-supported lineup, announcing that the 2017 Panamera -- which will arrive in the US in January -- will include Apple's infotainment technology, and be seen on a giant 12.3-inch touchscreen as part of an all-new Porsche Communication Management system. The luxury sedan starts at $99,900 for the 4S model, and scales up to the Panamera Turbo, which sells for $146,900. Other vehicles that currently support CarPlay include the 2016 911 and the 2017 models of Macan, 718 Boxster, and 718 Cayman. The company did not mention support for Google's corresponding Android Auto in its announcement. http://bit.ly/295ZQ94

Share

Industry453d

Apple employees testing wheelchair features

New features included in the forthcoming watchOS 3 are being tested by Apple retail store employees, including a new activity-tracking feature that has been designed with wheelchair users in mind. The move is slightly unusual in that, while retail employees have previously been used to test pre-release versions of OS X and iOS, this marks the first time they've been included in the otherwise developer-only watchOS betas. The company is said to have gone to great lengths to modify the activity tracker for wheelchair users, including changing the "time to stand" notification to "time to roll" and including two wheelchair-centric workout apps. http://bit.ly/2955JDa

Share

Troubleshooting454d

SanDisk reveals two 256GB microSDXC cards

SanDisk has introduced two 256GB microSDXC cards. Arriving in August for $150, the Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Premium Edition card offers transfer speeds of up to 95MB/s for reading data. The Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card can read at a fast 100MB/s and write at up to 90MB/s, and will be shipping sometime in the fourth quarter for $200. http://bit.ly/294Q1If

Share

Upgrades/storage454d

Apple's third-quarter results due July 26

Apple has advised it will be issuing its third-quarter results on July 26, with a conference call to answer investor and analyst queries about the earnings set to take place later that day. The stream of the call will go live at 2pm PT (5pm ET) via Apple's investor site, with the results themselves expected to be released roughly 30 minutes before the call commences. Apple's guidance for the quarter put revenue at between $41 billion and $43 billion. http://apple.co/1oi1Pbm

Share

Investor455d

Twitter stickers slowly roll out to users

Twitter has introduced "stickers," allowing users to add extra graphical elements to their photos before uploading them to the micro-blogging service. A library of hundreds of accessories, props, and emoji will be available to use as stickers, which can be resized, rotated, and placed anywhere on the photograph. Images with stickers will also become searchable with viewers able to select a sticker to see how others use the same graphic in their own posts. Twitter advises stickers will be rolling out to users over the next few weeks, and will work on both the mobile apps and through the browser. http://bit.ly/29bbwUE